Notes for Module 1: 2/3/12 Acceptable Use: We do not have our District Acceptable Use Policy posted online. I emailed our technology department and hopefully he’ll send a link. The article alluded to the fact that many Acceptable Use documents are embedded in the District Technology Plan so I looked there. We do not have an AUP in our Tech Plan, but was surprised to find action plans regarding teaching students about CyberBullying and Acceptable Use. The plan suggests trainings to teach teachers acceptable use and anti-cyberbullying curriculum by 2010. We have never had this training in our district for teachers. Perhaps our media teachers have had the training, but it seems our Tech Plan is out of date. Check to see when your district’s plan was last updated. 2009 Check to see if your districts AUP/RUP includes child safety and cyberbullying provisions. Does it address copyright, plagiarism, and validity of resources? Yes Is the AUP/RUP proactive or reactive (positive or punitive)? It lays out what is acceptable and unacceptable, but doesn't provide consequences or incentives. Does your district require parental signature for students to be able to utilize the Internet, or does it only require a signiture if parents do not wish their child to use the Internet?Signature if parents want child to utilize the Internet How well is the RUP/AUP understood by teachers, students, and parents? Parents sign this form in Kindergarten, we spend no time discussing at teacher meetings or at the non-existent professional development opportunities we have. This plan is not understood well at all in my opinion. Who is involved in revising the AUP/RUP (and the technology plan)? The under staffed technology department at the district office. Are teachers, students, and parents included on the committee? No, they were when the policy was created, but not for updates. Analyze your districts’ AUP/RUP. (See Assignment Module 1)( Compare it to the examples provided in this module. What changes would you make if you were involved in revising it? I would include a more holistic vision of students as 21st century learners and how we can be global/digital citizen. I would couch the entire document in the idea that there is a positive reason WHY we use technology: to increase our learning, to prepare us for employment, to help us learn to communicate effectively in a global world, etc. How might you assure that it is read and understood by all constituents (parents, teachers, administrators, and students)? I really like the video idea. I would spend a few minutes at Back to School Night having parents watch a quick video with a fun quiz built in at the end to highlight the important ideas. Budgets are really tight right now, but it would be amazing to get these videos translates in a few key languages to help parents understand the issues. I have about 20% of my students that do not have a computer at home and they would really benefit from this information.
As you view them add to your notes (in your Wikispace) why we need AUP/RUPs and why it is important for all concerned parties (parents, teachers, administrators, and students) to fully understand their provisions. Having clear guidelines is so important to protect everyone involved. I think this avoids a lot of controversy when everyone is on the same page about expectations. I really appreciated the view of the gentleman in the video that the AUPs have to be organic and updated often. I get frustrated when decisions get made of the district level by people who haven’t been in the classroom to see many of the obstacles that teachers face with network problems, lack of resources, and red tape. While I have some reservations about the speed and text heavy design of the second video, I think it’s important that a review of the AUP happens throughout the school year. We have parents sign a form that allows their child to use the internet in Kindergarten that applies throughout the rest of elementary school. Another issue we have at our school is translation…53 languages are spoken at our school alone. I like the idea of video because it can be very heavy with visuals to increase comprehension.
I LOVE the clarity of the third video. We always have to sit through these dry informational sessions at the beginning of the year to train us on policies. We end up sitting in a room, reading long documents. I picture is worth a 1000 words….videos get across information succinctly and quickly. I realize I’m a very visual learner, but I really think most of my staff would prefer videos to the boring reading sessions.
Notes for Module 2: 2/17/12
Reflection Questions:
1. How does this information on copyright correspond with what you already know and use in your classroom.
In my MERIT classes last summer we covered a lot of these concepts, but this material went more in-depth. It was interesting that teachers had developed a ‘code of conduct’ regarding copyrighted materials. I was also interested to find out you could use portions of written pieces without breaking the law.
2. How are you teaching your students about copyright? During research and technology projects, I do mini-lessons to teach about using copyrighted materials. We use Creative Commons to find fair use pictures and I show students how to cite their sources…which is really tricky for 3rd graders, but I think it’s so important to start early.
3. How do you model correct use of copyrighted materials in your classroom and in your daily life? I use fair use materials and always cite my sources.
4. Do you observe violations of copyright law in your school or among your associates? If so, what violations have your noticed (perhaps now as a result of reading the above materials), and how might you help people to better understand copyright? We copy books, etc. when we’re short.
5. Why do you think some people violate copyright law? It’s cheap
6. Why do we have copyright laws? To protect the people who created the work.
What have you learned about fair use that will help you in your classroom?
I feel like I was pretty knowledgeable already….this is a nice reminder. I also think I will share with my students about how to gain permission to use copyrighted information. I think it’s a good lesson to communicate with artists to see if we could use their information.
What do you find most confusing about copyright and fair use? What surprised you as you reviewed the above materials? I was surprised that you could use small amounts of copy righted materials without permission.
How might you use them to help your students learn about copyright and fair use?
The Fair(y) use video might be an introduction or review, but I’d need to do a lot of explaining of the content. I think students would love to see all the film cuts, but might not get as much of the content.
The second video would be good for a review for teachers, but not for our students.
3/1/12 3 module - Cyber Safety online class Notes: Think about how you teach digital citizenship in your classroom. How do you integrate this with your academic content? Before students enter our computer lab each year, I do a mini-unit with them on 21st Century Skills and teach the following: In addition, my project teaches and assesses childrens’ use of 21st Century Skills. I’ve highlighted the lessons that focus on digital citizenship:
First 2 Weeks Effective Communication
Second 2 Weeks Digital-Age Literacy
Third 2 Weeks Inventive Thinking
Fourth 2 Weeks High Productivity
Class Meeting Discussion Topics:
1.Listening
2.Interactive Dialogue
Class Meeting Discussion Topics:
1.safety – roll play
2.etiquette issues
Lesson for Higher-Order questions with practice during any subject
Class Meeting Discussion Topics:
1.Feeling proud of work
2.managing time – difficult or easy for you
3.What tools do you use for projects – what do you like/dislike about tools
Team work activities – tie this to your first week of activities to set a cooperative tone (Do week 1)
Pamphlet for teaching research on-line and how to cite sources/look for reputable sites/evaluate information/corroborate sources
Curiosity - Create book list together for characters that question or show curiosity
Modeling story boards for class project then use techniques for individual and group projects – focus on WHAT’s MY GOAL – HOW DO I COMMUNICATE THIS? What’s best tool to do this?
Social Responsibility – going to do this throughout year, but starting with a reading project for the Heifer Project….
Teach any hardware or software we will use – specifically show differences in laptops/computer lab, flip cameras and how to upload, saving docs, uploading pics and siting sources,
Comparison Lessons evaluating high-quality products vs. not
Managing time – can use trade books to observe characters that use their time well and others that don’t
How does your school or district promote good digital citizenship? Our media center teachers reinforce the safety and digital citizenship ideas we’re teaching in our class. We also have a valuable resource at our public library named Linda Valler that comes and teaches children how to do online research each year and reinforces the safety issues on line. In addition, she has compiled an amazing resource of safe research sites for students https://sites.google.com/site/alamedasrs/home/students How might you, your school, and/or your district better integrate digital citizenship into the curriculum? I think we need to collaborate with other teachers and district tech staff to create resources that teachers can easily infuse into their teaching. It’s no use having teachers recreating the wheel when so much good information just needs to be shared by keeping it on an easy to access web page. I fear that time is our enemy when we have so many other pressures pulling teachers in different directions…but in reality, I can’t see how a standardized test can outweigh the importance of making sure students are well versed in the skills of the 21st century. How might you help the parents of your students teach their children to be good digital citizens? I think making parents aware of the resources available is important and infusing some of these activities into nightly homework can be a quick and easy way to get parents involved. I think little mini-lessons at school functions like having parents watch a high interest, short video can help parents get interested in helping their students integrate these skills into their lives at home. What types of cyberbullying have you seen at your school? We’ve had limited cyberbullying, but have had a few incidences which have been dealt with swifty….students’ accounts were deleted, parents brought into to discuss issues, and apologies made. Has your staff discussed cyberbulling and how to deal with it? Not formally, but informally at lunches, grade level meetings. If so, how cyberbullying being addressed? See above. Does your school or district’s tech plan or AUP/RUP contain information on cyberbullying and how it is to be handled? Yes What can you do to prevent cyberbullying? The greatest invention in the last few years in this regard for me has been Edmodo…its like facebook but has teacher safety controls. I can monitor every post and delete as I see fit. It has allowed me to teach netiquette and online communication lessons with real examples that my children use so its very practical. If I see students that aren’t using netiquette or cyberbullying, I can quickly do a mini-lesson/class meeting to address the issue. I think many sites are now allowing for teacher safety controls so it really takes some of the worry out of some online situations for teachers. In addition, we’re able to teach and monitor…giving feedback and redirection when students need support. Consider how you might use these and the above information to teach your students about digital citizenship. I feel pretty confident in my lesson progression right now, but will include some of the additional resources from CommonSense Media.
Acceptable Use: We do not have our District Acceptable Use Policy posted online. I emailed our technology department and hopefully he’ll send a link. The article alluded to the fact that many Acceptable Use documents are embedded in the District Technology Plan so I looked there. We do not have an AUP in our Tech Plan, but was surprised to find action plans regarding teaching students about CyberBullying and Acceptable Use. The plan suggests trainings to teach teachers acceptable use and anti-cyberbullying curriculum by 2010. We have never had this training in our district for teachers. Perhaps our media teachers have had the training, but it seems our Tech Plan is out of date.
Check to see when your district’s plan was last updated. 2009
Check to see if your districts AUP/RUP includes child safety and cyberbullying provisions. Does it address copyright, plagiarism, and validity of resources? Yes
Is the AUP/RUP proactive or reactive (positive or punitive)? It lays out what is acceptable and unacceptable, but doesn't provide consequences or incentives.
Does your district require parental signature for students to be able to utilize the Internet, or does it only require a signiture if parents do not wish their child to use the Internet? Signature if parents want child to utilize the Internet
How well is the RUP/AUP understood by teachers, students, and parents? Parents sign this form in Kindergarten, we spend no time discussing at teacher meetings or at the non-existent professional development opportunities we have. This plan is not understood well at all in my opinion.
Who is involved in revising the AUP/RUP (and the technology plan)? The under staffed technology department at the district office.
Are teachers, students, and parents included on the committee? No, they were when the policy was created, but not for updates.
Analyze your districts’ AUP/RUP. (See Assignment Module 1)( Compare it to the examples provided in this module.
What changes would you make if you were involved in revising it? I would include a more holistic vision of students as 21st century learners and how we can be global/digital citizen. I would couch the entire document in the idea that there is a positive reason WHY we use technology: to increase our learning, to prepare us for employment, to help us learn to communicate effectively in a global world, etc.
How might you assure that it is read and understood by all constituents (parents, teachers, administrators, and students)? I really like the video idea. I would spend a few minutes at Back to School Night having parents watch a quick video with a fun quiz built in at the end to highlight the important ideas. Budgets are really tight right now, but it would be amazing to get these videos translates in a few key languages to help parents understand the issues. I have about 20% of my students that do not have a computer at home and they would really benefit from this information.
As you view them add to your notes (in your Wikispace) why we need AUP/RUPs and why it is important for all concerned parties (parents, teachers, administrators, and students) to fully understand their provisions. Having clear guidelines is so important to protect everyone involved. I think this avoids a lot of controversy when everyone is on the same page about expectations.
I really appreciated the view of the gentleman in the video that the AUPs have to be organic and updated often. I get frustrated when decisions get made of the district level by people who haven’t been in the classroom to see many of the obstacles that teachers face with network problems, lack of resources, and red tape.
While I have some reservations about the speed and text heavy design of the second video, I think it’s important that a review of the AUP happens throughout the school year. We have parents sign a form that allows their child to use the internet in Kindergarten that applies throughout the rest of elementary school. Another issue we have at our school is translation…53 languages are spoken at our school alone. I like the idea of video because it can be very heavy with visuals to increase comprehension.
I LOVE the clarity of the third video. We always have to sit through these dry informational sessions at the beginning of the year to train us on policies. We end up sitting in a room, reading long documents. I picture is worth a 1000 words….videos get across information succinctly and quickly. I realize I’m a very visual learner, but I really think most of my staff would prefer videos to the boring reading sessions.
Notes for Module 2: 2/17/12
Reflection Questions:
In my MERIT classes last summer we covered a lot of these concepts, but this material went more in-depth. It was interesting that teachers had developed a ‘code of conduct’ regarding copyrighted materials. I was also interested to find out you could use portions of written pieces without breaking the law.
2. How are you teaching your students about copyright? During research and technology projects, I do mini-lessons to teach about using copyrighted materials. We use Creative Commons to find fair use pictures and I show students how to cite their sources…which is really tricky for 3rd graders, but I think it’s so important to start early.
3. How do you model correct use of copyrighted materials in your classroom and in your daily life? I use fair use materials and always cite my sources.
4. Do you observe violations of copyright law in your school or among your associates? If so, what violations have your noticed (perhaps now as a result of reading the above materials), and how might you help people to better understand copyright? We copy books, etc. when we’re short.
5. Why do you think some people violate copyright law? It’s cheap
6. Why do we have copyright laws? To protect the people who created the work.
What have you learned about fair use that will help you in your classroom?
I feel like I was pretty knowledgeable already….this is a nice reminder. I also think I will share with my students about how to gain permission to use copyrighted information. I think it’s a good lesson to communicate with artists to see if we could use their information.
What do you find most confusing about copyright and fair use? What surprised you as you reviewed the above materials? I was surprised that you could use small amounts of copy righted materials without permission.
How might you use them to help your students learn about copyright and fair use?
The Fair(y) use video might be an introduction or review, but I’d need to do a lot of explaining of the content. I think students would love to see all the film cuts, but might not get as much of the content.
The second video would be good for a review for teachers, but not for our students.
3/1/12 3 module - Cyber Safety online class
Notes: Think about how you teach digital citizenship in your classroom. How do you integrate this with your academic content?
Before students enter our computer lab each year, I do a mini-unit with them on 21st Century Skills and teach the following:
In addition, my project teaches and assesses childrens’ use of 21st Century Skills. I’ve highlighted the lessons that focus on digital citizenship:
Effective Communication
Digital-Age Literacy
Inventive Thinking
High Productivity
(Do week 1)
How does your school or district promote good digital citizenship?
Our media center teachers reinforce the safety and digital citizenship ideas we’re teaching in our class. We also have a valuable resource at our public library named Linda Valler that comes and teaches children how to do online research each year and reinforces the safety issues on line. In addition, she has compiled an amazing resource of safe research sites for students https://sites.google.com/site/alamedasrs/home/students
How might you, your school, and/or your district better integrate digital citizenship into the curriculum?
I think we need to collaborate with other teachers and district tech staff to create resources that teachers can easily infuse into their teaching. It’s no use having teachers recreating the wheel when so much good information just needs to be shared by keeping it on an easy to access web page. I fear that time is our enemy when we have so many other pressures pulling teachers in different directions…but in reality, I can’t see how a standardized test can outweigh the importance of making sure students are well versed in the skills of the 21st century.
How might you help the parents of your students teach their children to be good digital citizens? I think making parents aware of the resources available is important and infusing some of these activities into nightly homework can be a quick and easy way to get parents involved. I think little mini-lessons at school functions like having parents watch a high interest, short video can help parents get interested in helping their students integrate these skills into their lives at home.
What types of cyberbullying have you seen at your school?
We’ve had limited cyberbullying, but have had a few incidences which have been dealt with swifty….students’ accounts were deleted, parents brought into to discuss issues, and apologies made.
Has your staff discussed cyberbulling and how to deal with it?
Not formally, but informally at lunches, grade level meetings.
If so, how cyberbullying being addressed? See above.
Does your school or district’s tech plan or AUP/RUP contain information on cyberbullying and how it is to be handled? Yes
What can you do to prevent cyberbullying? The greatest invention in the last few years in this regard for me has been Edmodo…its like facebook but has teacher safety controls. I can monitor every post and delete as I see fit. It has allowed me to teach netiquette and online communication lessons with real examples that my children use so its very practical. If I see students that aren’t using netiquette or cyberbullying, I can quickly do a mini-lesson/class meeting to address the issue. I think many sites are now allowing for teacher safety controls so it really takes some of the worry out of some online situations for teachers. In addition, we’re able to teach and monitor…giving feedback and redirection when students need support.
Consider how you might use these and the above information to teach your students about digital citizenship.
I feel pretty confident in my lesson progression right now, but will include some of the additional resources from CommonSense Media.